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'Pig and pussy hunt' - take your helicopter

Telegraph report

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Australian animal lovers condemn cat and wild boar cull
Sydney 19/12/2003

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Australian animal lovers are outraged at an Outback town's plan to hold a Christmas "pig and pussy hunt", in which wild boar and feral cats will be trapped, shot, knifed, dynamited or run over.

Up to 100 hunters from all over Australia are converging on the gold mining town of Pine Creek, in the Northern Territory, to take part in the hunt, which starts at dawn on Boxing Day.

Organisers say the aim is to wipe out as many wild pigs and cats as possible. Both species are blamed for killing millions of Australian native animals a year, including endangered mammals, lizards, snakes and birds.

"We don't care how they kill them as long as we get rid of them," said organiser Rod Haines, a hunter who runs Pine Creek's Lazy Lizard caravan park.

"You can shoot them from a helicopter, run them over on the road, get them with a bow and arrow or chuck a stick of dynamite at them."

He said the last option was not recommended, after hunters strapped a stick of dynamite to a wild pig a few years ago and lit the fuse. The creature promptly bolted under their car and blew itself, and the vehicle, to pieces.

There are an estimated 2.5 million pigs in the Northern Territory, with the larger males renowned for their ferocity and razor-sharp tusks.

Most hunters will go after them at night with packs of "pig dogs", normally bull mastiffs or pit bull terriers equipped with rubber body armour.

"Anything that steps off the veranda is fair game," Mr Haines said. "You can knock off a neighbour's cat if it's not been locked up at night, as it should be. I'm not a cruel man but these animals are wiping out our native wildlife. We are just giving Mother Nature a helping hand."

Full report

ABC News Online

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Shooters gather for Pig and Pussy hunt.

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The organiser of an annual feral animal hunt in the Northern Territory says it is attracting interest nationwide.

Rod Haines from Pine Creek, 200 kilometres south of Darwin, says this year's Pig and Pussy hunt has a $700 prize for the biggest boar.
He says the hunt starts on Boxing Day with the weigh-in on New Year's Day.

Mr Haines says the event is becoming very popular. "We've created a lot of interest from the east coast mainly," he said. "There's a lot of north Queensland hunters coming over this year. A few people left from Melbourne two days ago to head up for it that were up here for the August hunt. I hear there's a few coming from WA. So we're pretty well getting it Australia-wide now."

(BTW, interesting how two news organs report the same story with a very different spin.)

Damn, I'd better keep me bloody boat away from Oz on the 26th.

That's hilarious!

I see that the "hick-a-saurus-rex" is not an extinct animal after all! :D Still, I know plenty of folks that have an usual amount of animosity against felines. If I were in the area at the time, I'm sure the red kneck inside me would beg to be released (if for only one day). I think it's absolutely hilarious, and it's probably a great deal of fun (in a seriously disturbed and twisted way).

As the reports mention, it's an annual event, and every now & then the animal libbers get a tad het up about it all. The Territory being what it is, they don't get very far with their whinges and whines ;)

Nationally we have major problems with feral cats, they run rampant through areas "locked up" to many forms of human access (dreaded 4WD's, etc) and are responsible, along with the fox, for the near extinction of a number of native species. A lot of local shire councils now require domestic cats to be registered & be locked up at night.

Just outside Melbourne, areas which were alive with Lyrebirds are now bereft of the species. They have been wiped out locally by foxes, which live in the gorse & brambles that are everywhere since Parks Victoria banned 4WD and recreational access some 10-12 years ago.

Having said all that, I wonder who will be out there pig shooting from a Robbo in the Top End :ok:

I met my first wife at a pig and pussy hunt........

What a coincidence, diethelm, so do I!

Ere Now? I's been lied to by the American NRA....they said all the guns have been confiscated in OZ! Said only pellet guns were legal....and then only so long as you did not have the gun in the same square mile as the pellets occupied. What gives?

:confused:

That was Oz. We're talking about the Territory, where they don't have speed limits, either :ok:

Quote:

NRA never said that. They did say that the OZ government spent several hundred million $Aus buying back semi-auto handguns and rifles. There are still lots of other guns left in OZ. Some of them even legal ;)

Sounds like someones sex life:uhoh:

When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.

;)

The Territory with no highway speed limit....result, 2.5 times the national road deaths / 1000 vehicles.

You can still register handguns, some limited automatic rifles and shotguns in the territory and the deaths by firearms in the Territory has remained static, whereas the rest of the country has declined after the buyback scheme commenced.

Suicide [by firearms...total] is down, so is domestic violence, child deaths by accidental discharge and homicide.

Bet the NRA did'nt tell you that.....or they twisted it!!!

But I would, shoot, drown and run over as many felines as I possibly could....good on them.

Im not going to split atoms anytime soon, but a "Pig and Pussy Hunt"?? Hell, I was a Marine once and that was called Weekend Liberty......
Remember Boys and Girls. a 2 at 10, is a 10 at 2 or at least drink her up to a 4, have some pride.

Red Wine
The major cause of fatal road accidents in the NT, relates to International visitors, unable to handle the extra speed and road conditions. As a result, most of our major tourist spot access are speed limited. This is not really fair as your typical local NT driver is not a hoon, and can drive. I have seen worse frustrated driving behaviour in other parts of OZ, and I rather stay with the NT rules.
You should see Asia........:oh:
As to firearms, we did not have much of a problem compared to other states. And yes, we can still have handguns, if we belong to a club, or as employment purposes. Our NT lunatic population is almost non existant...:cool:
Feral pigs: you should see the damage done to National Parks and Stations. Nobody wants to pay the costs of eradication, so if people are willing to participate in this event at their cost, the more the better.:ok:

Sorry Mate, thats not totally correct.

Single vehicle roll overs are the biggest killer....caused by speed.

I'm a lot closer to the action than you think, and my facts are facts!!!!

The statistics that I have [Official Government] don't seem to single out any national or international grouping....but from the Casualty Department of both YPAS and YPDN Hospitals, it would seem the Black fella, then local White Fella and then a sprinkling of others rate in that order.

You hit the rough at 180 kph mate and your history....no matter where you come from.

Those who have lived in the NT like WLM and myself, know only too well the massive ecological impact these introduced species have on the native wildlife and fauna. Both of us have trudged around with the scientists and seen first had the erosion from the buffallo, pig and the destruction caused by the cat.

Shooting ferals is a service to the continent. Blow the lot of them away as far as I am concerned and do the same to the rabbits and opposums.....eh Timo!! Roll on those lazy sunday avos again.... :)

It is not cruel or vicious- but instead an environmental service. Every 22 slug I have buried in the head of a rabbit, possum and cat has been an investment for the future enjoyment of national parks and wildlife for my children. If I could've caught them and used a club to save ammo that would've been even better.

If you are a European or North American, you will probably never understand completely. The odd Canadian knows the issues as they deal with the Moose in eastern canada.

As for the driving......well what do you expect when you put northern hemisphere drivers on the wrong side of the road? :hmm:

Well said Steve76...We're not going to win points with the RSPCA are we.......:D
Red Wine, no offence intended and I take your point about some members of our society... I think driving under the influence might be a participating culprit as well. However, I still prefer the NT rules to the rest of OZ.. :}

Unrelated to helicopters used to hunt "Pig & Pussy"...

If there is so much destruction by a large population of varmints, why won't your government invest in some kind of eradication or population control? Seems to me that birth control for the species (capture & release or other method) would help reduce numbers. We've done it in the U.S. with certain species with pretty good results (they basically breed themselves out of existance because they are shooting blanks).

Oh, suggestion is NOT intended to get rid of the annual festivities. I just wish I knew about this earlier... I could have planned a vacation around it! :D

Rickster....some governments are not as apt to intervene in people's lives like the US Federal Government. The major problem in Oz as I understand it....besides the women wanting to stand at the bar nowadays...is all the "imported" species that have no natural predators. Guam has almost lost all of the birds due to snakes showing up in freight shipments....New Zealand has its problems as well...as does Hawaii. Even the USA is beginning to have problems....Fire Ants, Killer Bees, mussels, aquatic plants, Kudzu.....the list goes on.

The hunt as described must be a giggle....stalking the dangerous wild pussy...doing in the cornered Opossum...participating in the Barbied Boar.....hunting the wily enviromentalist!:ok:

We should have one around Dover- Hunt the oppressed Asylum -Seeker!:eek: